


Hell Is For Children

by WakingNightmares



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Child Soldiers, Gen, Late Night Conversations, Talk of possible character death, dark themes, kids at war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28727574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WakingNightmares/pseuds/WakingNightmares
Summary: For the first time since entering, Sokka finally looked directly at him, meeting his gaze unflinchingly. “We won’t survive.”“I know.”And Zuko did know; he’d known from the moment they’d started laying out plans that afternoon. He’d watched, as they sat eating dinner, unable to sit next to them. Unable to let Toph throw her legs over his, her head in Sokka’s lap, Suki pressed against Sokka. Katara dishing out their food, a gentle smile on her face.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 49





	Hell Is For Children

**Author's Note:**

> So as I was rewatching A:TLA again, a thought struck me. Zuko and Sokka were both closer to adults than they were kids by the time the show ended; Sokka would've been sixteen, Zuko seventeen. They'd been warriors, and that day, when they were planning on how to take out Ozai, they both had to know the outcome.
> 
> This stemmed from that.

A quiet knock made Zuko sit up straight in his bed, staring at the door.

It was late; the moon had already climbed to its peak, and started its decent again, meaning everyone else should have been asleep already.

“Come in.”

He was surprised when the door opened, and Sokka’s head appeared.

“Wasn’t sure if you’d still be up,” The Water Tribe boy said quietly. “Can I…?”

Zuko nodded, motioning him in. “Sure. Couldn’t sleep anyways.”

Sokka sighed as he closed the door behind him, grabbing the small, three-legged stool as he moved closer, dropping it across from Zuko, and sitting down.

“Yeah, me neither,” He said quietly.

The silence, thick and heavy, stretched out between them; while it wasn’t awkward, it wasn’t comfortable either. It was Sokka who finally broke the tension, sighing as he dropped his head into his hands.

“I don’t feel good about this, Jerkbender,” He said quietly. “It… feels really awful.”

Zuko shrugged his shoulders helplessly. “It has to be done, Sokka; the Firelord needs to… to die -” He hated that he still struggled to say it,  _ after everything his father had done, but nothing really made sense anymore, so _ . “-and Aang is the only one who can do it.”

“I know that. I do. I get it, but… He’s twelve, Zuko. Almost thirteen. He’s still a kid. And we’re asking him to murder a man in cold blood. Even if he wasn't a pacifist or whatever... We're asking a twelve year old to kill a man.”

“He's not a kid anymore, Sokka,” Zuko corrected. “None of them are. Even if they were before all this, they aren’t now.”

“But they  _ are _ , Zuko! That’s my point. I… Toph, earlier, when we were planning… Zuko, she was having  _ fun _ . She was a kid playing a  _ game _ ,” Sokka said, his voice breaking. “She acts like she’s so tough, and brave, but she’s a kid! Hell, even Katara… Her birthday is next month, Zuko; she’ll be fifteen. In our village… It’d be another year before she could get married. If you’re not old enough to get married, you shouldn’t be old enough to fight in a war,” He finished quietly.

Zuko nodded, leaning his elbows on his knees, feeling the weight of his own years. “I know. But… This is the world we live in, Sokka. And if Aang is going to defeat my father… It’s up to the rest of us to buy him time to do it.”

For the first time since entering, Sokka finally looked directly at him, meeting his gaze unflinchingly. “We won’t survive.”

“I know.”

And Zuko did know; he’d known from the moment they’d started laying out plans that afternoon. He’d watched, as they sat eating dinner, unable to sit next to them. Unable to let Toph throw her legs over his, her head in Sokka’s lap, Suki pressed against Sokka. Katara dishing out their food, a gentle smile on her face.

Part of him, in that moment, had wanted to yell at Aang, who was pouting over in the corner, also sitting away from the group. Had wanted to grab him and shake him, to scream that this would probably be the last meal he’d enjoy with his friends. To tell him he was being selfish, worrying about ‘staining his soul’, while the rest of them were going to die just to give him a small window to face off against Ozai. That he’d most likely survive his fight either way; that the rest of them wouldn’t be so lucky.

But he hadn’t. Couldn’t bring himself to do it. Because he knew… Aang was just a kid too. He should be  _ allowed _ to be selfish. He shouldn’t have to worry about dirtying his soul.

“I don’t know… I don’t know if I can do this, Zuko.”

Sokka’s quiet admission pulled Zuko from his own thoughts, and he fixed the other boy with a firm gaze.

“We have to. We don't have a choice.”

“I know that. But… Zuko, they  _ don’t _ . They don’t  _ know _ . You, and me, and Suki? We  _ know _ . They don’t. They think we’re going to walk  _ away  _ from this. How can we… What kind of  _ person  _ does that make me? That I’m letting them walk into this, thinking they’ll walk back out? How can we  _ do  _ that to them?”

“Because we don’t get the luxury of being kids anymore, Sokka. When your father left you in charge of your village, you weren’t allowed to be a kid anymore. When Suki had to put on the Kyoshi robes to protect her village from Fire Nation Raiders, she wasn’t allowed to be a kid anymore. And when my father challenged me to an Agni Kai, and burnt off half of my face before banishing me, I wasn’t allowed to be a kid anymore.”

“And now  _ we’re  _ doing it to  _ them _ . What kind of people does that make us, Zuko?” Sokka asked, his voice desperate. “I want to think we’re doing the right thing, but… if we do this, how does that make us any different?”

“It makes us the type of kids who had to become  _ soldiers _ , Sokka. The kind who had to make hard choices. And telling them? It won’t make any difference. It didn’t with me; all I wanted was to be an adult, and fight in the war. Were you any different?”

“No.” The admission was quiet, almost pained. “No, I… I was proud of the responsibility my dad gave me. I didn’t realize until afterwards.”

“Exactly. You could tell them, and it won’t matter. You really think Toph is going to believe you if you tell her she won’t survive the fight? You think Katara would do any differently if you told her?”

“I wish they would,” Sokka said, his voice barely above a whisper, staring towards the door. “I… I want to protect them from this, Zuko.”

“I know. But we both know we  _ can’t _ . Not if we want Aang to have even a  _ small  _ chance at defeating the Fire Lord. Even with all of us there… The odds of us doing more than buying him a few minutes are slim. We  _ need _ Toph, and we  _ need _ Katara if we want Aang to have those few minutes. No offense to you and Suki, but… Against an army of Fire Nation soldiers? All of whom will have been handpicked to fight by my father’s side? Sokka, I’m a good Fire Bender… I’m not  _ that  _ good. You and Suki won’t be able to even get close unless I have help. If I thought we could do it without them, I would.”

“So we have to let a little kid, and my little sister die.”

“Yes.”

Sokka dropped his head for what seemed an eternity, the silence stretching out again. Finally, he looked up, and gave Zuko a small, sad smile. “You sure know how to make a guy feel better.”

Zuko shrugged. “We probably won’t live long enough to feel guilty about it, if that helps.”

Sokka chuckled. “It kind of does, I guess. Hey… I know we uh… Well, we’re not like, best friends or anything, but… If I… If I die first… I know it’s a lot to ask, but… Suki and I… Like you said, we have to get close; you, Katara, and Toph don’t. If you can get them out…”

Zuko nodded. “If I can, I will.”

Sokka swallowed. “I know it’s… It’s unfair of me to ask, but… If it looks like Aang can’t win… Make them leave. Don’t let them watch him die, alright?”

“I won’t.”

“How did it end up like this?” Sokka said quietly, staring over at the door again. “How is it up to us and a bunch of kids to save the world?”

“Because there’s no one else,” Zuko said, just as quietly, feeling as if the weight of that answer - _ there’s only us _ -would crush him. The responsibility of saving the world was on them; they were the only ones who had even this small opportunity at saving everyone. 

He wished his uncle were there. Iroh would know what to do. But Iroh was gone, most likely dead. And there was no one else.

“You should try and get some sleep, Sokka,” He said after a few minutes. “Even a few hours is better than nothing.”

“I could say the same for you, Jerkbender.”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “Fine. We should both try and get some sleep then.”

Neither boy made any indication of moving, and Zuko sighed. “You can… there should be some extra blankets in that chest over there,” He said quietly, throwing Sokka one of his pillows. “You can sleep here if you want.”

“Thanks.”

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, none of that had to happen; they found the Order of the White Lotus, and they had help. So yay, I guess?
> 
> Comments make my day, boys and girls.


End file.
